Borderline
by Phoenix Dayze
Summary: They're from two different worlds. They certainly know better. And yet neither of them can find the strength to resist...
1. Angeal

It wasn't about sex. Not really. It never had been. It was about walking a razor-fine edge between loyalty and stupidity. About seizing enough control over your life that you actually had some to relinquish of your own free will. About bringing two worlds together in an attempt to understand. ...It was about feeling something--anything! for _one damn minute_ that _wasn't_ ShinRa authorized!

But a relationship like theirs was not without its risks...

Angeal was a heartbeat late for his session with Zack. Again. It was a moment that Zack always shrewdly noticed and had to bite his tongue to keep his irrepressible questions at bay. Something was always off on these days, something that worried Zack, like there was a deep, underlying _fretfulness_ that had suddenly welled up and replaced Angeal's stoicism and strength, but was somehow just as strong and _silent_... Something...was wrong.

Angeal knew Zack worried. He was a good kid, and, possibly to his own detriment, far too invested in people. Least of all Angeal, seemingly second to no one in Zack's eyes, except perhaps Sephiroth. But that was to be expected. Unlike his own recent behavioral misdemeanors, the tracks of which, for some unfathomable reason, he couldn't quite cover. At least where Zack was concerned.

Whenever he entered the practice room, late, and on the heels of what would have a lower ranking officer suddenly MIA with no explanation, the impenetrable focus for which he was famed was suddenly sadly lacking. Maybe it was Zack. Maybe his generally jovial attitude, his (somewhat forcibly) quiet acceptance, and his insistent friendship were finally taking their toll on him. Or maybe he was simply losing his mind one microbe at a time. But whatever it was, during these sessions the pulse and throb of his being always insisted on clinging to a different rhythm, and he and Zack weren't in sync as they should have been. They clashed like a badly mismatched pair of dogs, at each others throats for no apparent reason and with no redeeming grace or skill.

Genesis would have been ashamed of him. Which was why Angeal vowed on his Mako-enhanced blood that his friend would never find out.


	2. Tseng

It wasn't about sex. At least not for him. Sex was never an issue for him. It was a luxury not afforded him, and definitely one too expensive for him to risk. But there was a draw. Something about similar recognition, a knowing that their interaction was, if not expressly forbidden, strongly ill-advised. There was a certain intrigue to be sure. He was the type of man who liked to be in the know, and while his position gave him a vast array of experiences and knowledge of things that most men would shy away from, when it came to the other side--the Soldier side--there was a rather large, distasteful blank. Soldiers weren't Turks. It was as simple as that.

Of course, the pursuit of wisdom, or curiosity as some might label it, never came without a bit of trouble on its tail...

Reno was staring at him. Again. Tseng shifted slightly in his chair and pretended not to be aware of where Reno's eyes were currently boring a hole. He knew it was there, just below his jawbone, just forward of his left ear. Anyone who said Commander Hewley was known for his subtlety had never spent anytime with him...out of uniform.

But just because he was willing to admit to himself that the mark was there and why, he was under no obligation to give Reno the gossip he was so obviously hungry for. It wasn't like Reno was going without. In fact, the other nine days out of ten it was Reno sitting here with incriminating marks and a grin the size of Rufus's ego.

Truth be told, Tseng would have preferred it if Reno had been sexually blase, or at least as preoccupied as he seemed to be. But when it came to matters of a more 'carnal' nature,  
Reno seemed to have some kind of sexual sixth sense. He always seemed to know when Tseng had done something very 'un-Turk-like', and always directed his gaze so disarmingly accurately that some days he had Tseng questioning whether he'd even remembered to dress before coming to work. But as it was, Reno's presence and subsequent interest was closer and more annoying than the damned hickey!

Tseng swallowed hard and chanced looking up. Reno flashed him his now-famed coy, lascivious grin. And winked. Tseng put his eyes back on his desk and concentrated very hard on alphabetizing his already impeccably organized files. It was either that, or start planning what he would say to Rufus about Reno's impending disappearance.


	3. Training Reno

One year earlier

**One year earlier...**

"Damn it!" Tseng massaged his hand, dark eyes flashing. He gave the red head across from him a dirty look before before regaining enough control over his nerves to pretend he _wasn't_ pissed off. He shook his head and worked the feeling back into his fingers. "Well, Reno," he said carefully. "You've sucessfully managed to electrocute more Turks than targets."

Reno, the newest addition to their force, gave him an impish grin and shrugged. "I always did do better with moving targets. So why don't ya stop 'accidentally' gettin' in my way, and spar with me? Afraid I might kick your ass?" Here, Reno flipped the electromagrod into the air with cocky surrety. "Come on, surely you can keep up with...OW!! You little _bitch_!" The magrod hit the ground as Reno stuck his sparking fingertips in his mouth. He gave Tseng a disbelieving scowl. "God damn! That fucker _hurts_!"

Tseng cocked an eyebrow. "You don't say." He glanced down at his still smoking suit. "Please, tell me how much."

"Almost as bad as kick to the nuts!" Reno answered emphatically. "Geez!"

Tseng shook his head again, and gestured at Reno to charge him again. "Had enough, tough guy? Is the first prick of pain too much for you? Maybe we should call your mother."

Reno popped his fingers out of his mouth and wiped them on his pants. Scowling hard, he bent down and retrieved the now-respected weapon. "I ain't got no mother!" he spat, then, he gave Tseng a quick once over and grinned. "What's your excuse?"

Tseng nodded approvingly and pulled out his own EMR. "Well done. Now," he shifted his stance, readying himself for attack. "Now that you know a bit about what the weapon you're wielding can do, come and get me. But don't forget to be on the defensive as well as offensive. A good Turk plays both sides and is ready for anything, can handle anything that gets thrown at them."

Reno shifted the rod in his grip. "So what? Learn everything and don't hesitate, because only a fool would expect less of an enemy than he does of himself?"

A hint of a smirk pulled at the corners of Tseng's mouth. This one _was_ gonna be good... "Well, yes, that. But more importantly because, if I see an opening, I _will_ shock your ass." He gave Reno a hard stare, waited for him to really focus on him, then, "_Never_ fuck with a Turk. We're not some prettyboy Soldier parading around all heroes and glory. We stand in the shadows. We're despised to our faces. We do what no one else will. _We_ are the backbone to this company. We are the legs it stands on, and the wisdom it trusts. We are loyal to ShinRa, and we always, _always_ do our job."

"So what's our job?"

"Right now," Tseng explained, "it's my job to train you. It's your job to make me believe in you, to trust you, to be able to swear on the President's life that you have what it takes."

Reno swallowed. "And what if I don't?"

A serious expression washed over Tseng's face. "If you don't, it will then be my job ensure that what you know will not put the company at risk."

Reno squared his shoulders, lifted his chin, and met Tseng's gaze head on. "Better train me up good then, Boss."

Tseng gave him a reassuring smile. "I intend to, Reno. I intend to."


End file.
